Matting



W. J. REILLY.

MATTING.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

I I ame utop- Z022 zam J. fiezIZg I v Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

v wmnmu J. REILLY, or NEWARK, new eraser.

J marine.

Specification of Letters Fatent.

Application filed March 1, 1921. Serial No. 448,806.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, WILLIAM J. REILLY, a-oitize-n of the United States, residin at Newark, in the county of Essex and tate of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Matting, of

- which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying halls, public places and the like. One of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a construction which is simple and inexpensive and which distributes the strain in lifting and handling the mat so as not to develop weakness at. any one particular point while at the same time providing suflicient rigidity and strength at all points.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 have illustrated in Fig. 1 in plan view, parts being broken away, a suitable form of mat embodying an application of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view looking Fig. 1.

The small pieces of material of which the mat is made may be fluted or corrugated as indicated at 3 in Fig. 2, and are preferably perforated to receive the wires or rods 4 which are preferably bent at the ends in U- shape formation as indicated at 5 terminating in'loops or hooks 6 for .engaginglthe next rod or wire as shown. At predetermined spaced positions a rectangular wire upwardly at or rod such as indicated .by the reference character 7 may be provided and the free ends connected by a sleeve such as 8, the last or end piece bein separated by smaller pieces of material sue as 9 as shown.

In mats of this character heretofore used, it has been customary to leave the intervening spaces suchas 10 at the sides open with theresult that in picking up a corner of the mat, undue strain has been developed along" the side tending to bend and twist th'ecouplin rods some times breakinglthem a; 2111: an at other times leavin t em buc ed and bent so that the mat not lay flat,

thus presenting an obstruction to trip over. By the construction hereinbefore described, this weakness in the mat is overcome, all of the sections being securely bound together while at the same time sufiicient flexibility is preserved to facilitate rolling up the mat. Furthermore, the sleeves or clinches such as 8 are greatly reduced in number and may in fact if desirable be entirely eliminated, thus obviating another weak point in the construction of thistypeof matting as heretofore used.

Of course it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the inventlon as claimed.

I claim:

. Patented Mar. '7, 1922.

' 1. In a mat of the class described having U-shaped retaining rods, groups of solid links in staggered relation, the individual links of said groups secured face .to face with their edges exposed, the ends of one group overlapping the ends of an ad acent group, said overlapping ends pierced by one of said rods having loops at the free ends engaging the next adjacent rod thereto, and groups of said links intermediate of the ends of saidmat between which the ad acent ends of groups of links are secured by a U-shaped rod, both legs of which pass throu h said intermediate groups.

2. n a mat of the class described havlng U-shaped retaining rods, groups of solid links in staggered relation, the individual links of said groups secured face to face with their edges exposed, the ends of one group overlapping the ends of an ad acent group, said overlapping ends plerced by one of said rods having loops at the free ends I of discs between the free ends of saidgroups l00 atthe end of said mat.

In testimony whereof 'I hereunto aflixmy signature. I r r WILLIAM J. REILLY. 

